Bangkok,Thailand:Thailand is offering hefty tax breaks and other incentives in order to attract greenfield investment from Indian manufacturers.Teams from Thailand's Board of Investment(BOI)were touring the country to call on industrialists and representing agents.BOI will be opening an office in Mumbai in the coming months–this will be its 13th overseas office.
The team,including director of BOI,Kanakporn Chotipal,was in Nagpur in Maharashtra,India on a two-day visit to find prospects for investment in agro-processing industries.It met promoters of Spacewood Furniture,a city-based firm involved in making modular kitchens.A visit to Indo Rama Synthetics unit at Butibori was also planned;one of Indo Rama Synthetics'promoters already has a presence in Thailand.
"Although we do not encourage mergers with local companies,the Thai government is looking for pure greenfield investment."said Mr Chotipal.According to Indian consultant for the Thai government,Nageen Arora,the country is looking for two-way investment.
Certain industries can get tax holidays for up to eight years,exemption from import tax duty,as well as double deduction on payment of public utility bills.This means industries can deduct double the amount of expenses incurred on overheads like power and water bills from their income while calculating tax liability,Ms Arora said.
Thailand is expecting five percent economic growth this year,in spite of the severe floods last year.India is considered to be one of the important countries in the region for promoting business ties,said an official in the team.
